Dispensing cabinet



S. WHEELER.

.mwENslNG CANNET.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. I5. 1918. Lcgpgga Patented Oct. 3L 1922.

I SHEETS-SHEET I- A TTOHNEIQS z" Iii IIIII S. WHEELER.

msPENsLNG CABINET.

APPLICATION FILED ]AN.15, 1918.

Patented Oct. 3L 1922.

N 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

L IL .,.LLw QN L LLLLL L L /f @L LLL m H MIL H, L L 1L|LL L LI! L||| L N \LL1 |L LL I. LLLMLLLLLL .LLLLLlM" L L .v mNLLm. 1 MNL L uw wN ww. ILT E n LL L I l L L L e LL LL L L S. WHEELER.

DISPENSING CABINET.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. I5, 1918.

mem-.ed 00.*. 3L 1922,

4 SHEETS-shim a.

I lI A TTOH/VEVS Patented Oct. 31, 1922.

s. WHEELER. DISPENSING CABINET.

APPLICATION FILED 1AN.15. |918.

Patented Oct. 31, 1922.

sE'iH WHEELER, 0E cAs'rLE'roN, NEW Yoan.

DIsPENsING CABINET.

Application filed J'anuaryl, 1918. Serial No. 211,941.

'o all whom it may concern.' y

Be it known that I, SETH WHEELER, of Castleton, in the county of Rensselaer and in the State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Dispensing Cabinets, and do hereby.y declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof. ,n

My invention-relates to dispensing cabinets and has for its object to provide a novel and efficient dispensing cabinet which may be coin-controlled if desired.

A further object of my invention is to provide a cabinet which will feed, among other articles or units, single or doubled sheets of paper either unfolded, or folded or interfolded, in any desired manner.

A further object of my invention is to provide a cabinet which will feed only thek desired unit and which will feed that unit positively and surely at one operation, which may consist of complete turns of ia feeding mechanism or only a portion of a complete turn or turns. i

VOther and further objects of my invention will be apparent from the following description and from the accompanying drawings illustrating one embodiment of my invention, in whichj Figure l is a side elevation with the bottom broken away to show the feeding rolls in section;

`Figure 2 a front elevation; Figure 3 a plan of the feeding vrollers with parts in section; y Figure 4 a vertical section taken on the line 4 4 of Figure 3; l i

Figure 5 a vertical section taken on the line 5 5 of Figure 6; 'f l i y Figure 6 an enlarged vertical section taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 2; i

Figure 7 an enlarged vertical section of the feeding rollers showing paper in `position to be fed;l I

Figure v8 an enlarged fragmentary detail looking in the direction of arrow 8 of Figure 6' v y Figure 9 an enlarged section taken on line 9--9 of Figure 6; i Figure 10 a detailed view (with parts in section and parts removed) of the coin-operating and locking devices; I i Figure 11 a section of a modified coinoperating device; and y, f c Figure 12 an elevation of the coin-operatpletely from ing device looking from the right of Figure .11.- i y l Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.

In the yembodiment of my invention chosen for purposes of' illustration, the reference character 1 .indicates a casing of any desired kind having'a conventional door 2 and any typebf `lock 3. An extension casing 4 is provided in this embodiment (see Figure 2) which also has a door 5 and a lock 6. The door 2 enables the cabinet to be filled with articles to be dispensed,` and the door 5 permits access to the coin receptacle to remove coins therefrom.

V At the bottom of casing l is provided a plurality ofdelivery rollers adapted to feed articles to be dispensed a sufficient distance to permit the articles to be grasped by the hand, and then adapted to release l cles so that they may be withdrawn comthe cabinet. The releasing may be accomplished in any desired manner as by providing one or more cooperating o r, non-cooperating cut-away portions on either or bothof the rollers. In the present embodiment. of the invention, a cut-away portion on each roller? cooperates to release the articles to be dispensed after the cooperating circular portions of the rollers have advanced the articles the desired distance. The rollers are connected by intermeshing gears 8 and have trunnions 9 mounted in bearings 10. If the cut-away portion or portions are on the operating roller only, gears 8 `may be omitted if desired. 1n order to assist the proper frictional engagement by the rollers of articles which it is desired to dispense, two or more of the bearings may be spring-pressed, the present embodiment having springs 11 yfor that purpose.

One of vthe trunnions is extended through the side. of the casing and provided with a lmurled knob 12 for turning the roiler.` The gears 8 communicate the turning movement to the other roller. The rollers are provided with mea-ns adapted to cooperate with a locking device, whichfmeans in the present embodiment consist ofone or more projections or pins 15. `Ifdesired, guides 14 may be provided to `assist in guiding` the articles from the rollers to they discharge opening which guides preferably extend .into notches 13 in the rollers to prevent the articles catching thereon, and also` a guide roller 16 may the artibe provided above the delivery rollers, preferably mounted in conventionalv brackets 17 at each side. A suitable device may be provided to prevent the turning of the rollers in the wrong direction, such as a pawl 18 (Figure 7).

To adapt these rollers for use in connection with a. locking device, a locking strip 20 is provided, which is shown in the present embodiment as mounted in the extension casing 4. This loc-king strip is movablyfsecured to the wall 21 of the extension casing' by screws 22 which extend throughslots 23 in the locking strip and screw 4into wall 21. A leaf sp-ring 24 between the screw heads. and locking strip 20 is adapted to exert sufficient pressure to maintain the looking strip in any position to which it is moved, but not sufficient pressure to prevent its movement with ordinary ease.l i

The locking strip 2O is provided lwith means adapted to cooperate with the feeding rollers 7 which means inthe present embodiment consists of an enlargement at the bottom of the locking strip having an opening 25 with projections and 27 adapted to be set fo-rth hereinafter',

engaged by pins 15 on the .rollers The shoulder or portion 28 adjacent projection 27 acts asa cam surface for a. purpose to be The particular construction utilized to bring about this locking cooperation is optional and may be varied. f f i The upper portion of locking strip. 20 preferably is provided with tracks 29 which are engaged by an anti-friction roller 41 therebetween, mounted ona pivoted lifting member 40. The lifting member also may be provided with an opening 42 therein and with a projection 43 on the top thereof,

Opposite the lifting member is a pin 44 mounted in a push button 45 surrounded by a casing 46 and having a spring 47 adapted normally to maintain the push button in retracted position. A shelf 48 preferably is provided beneath lifting member 40, and a recess 49 may be provided in the wall of the casing tofreceive projection 43 on the lifting member. A coin slot 50 is provided preferably in the top: of the casing.

The operation of the device is as follows: A coin inserted in coin slot 50 will fall to shelf 48 where it is maintained on edge between the wallv of the casing and lifting member 40. l/Vhen push button 45 is operated, its rod 44 pushes the coin against liftingmember 40, moving them both yupward and outward. If a coin is not in place,rod 44 will enter opening 42 in the liftingmember, and none of the parts-will be operated. As lifting member 40 moves upward its roller engages the upper track of tracks 29 on looking strip 20 and lifts the locking strip from the position shown in Figure 6 to that shown in Figure 10, where it is held by friction due to the action of leaf spring 24. Until locking member 2O has been raised, it is impossible to turn the'feeding rollers, as the upper pin of pins 15 on the rollers (Figure 6) engages proj ection26 on the locking strip. The lifting of locking member 20, however, (Figure 10) removes the projection from the path of the pin so that the rollers can be turned. As the pin rotates, it engages cam surface 28 and forces down the locking strip, so that the other' pin of the pins 15 will engage projection 26. This half,` revolution ofthe rollers will have-engaged `the article to be dispensed between their circular portions a-nd fed it to such position that itmay be grasped. As the article Yto'be dispensed, which, in the present illustration, is shown as interfolded paper towels (Figure 7), is not held at this time by the circular -portions of delivery rollers 7,v but is between the flattened sides of lthe. rollers and therefore released, it can be withdrawn easily from the casing. v The withdrawal ofl the interfolded towel illustrated in Figure 7 will cause Ithe next adjacent-,interfolded towel to fall into the position shown vin said Figure 7 read-y to be fed to grasp-ing position as described above, and so on until all the towels have been dispensed. The ydischarge opening may be curved in yprac-tice if desired, to prevent the insertion of an implement to remove the contents ofthe cabinet improperly. It is obvious that'one flattened surface on rollers 7 with one vpin 15, or a plurality of iattened surfaces withv a plurality of pins, or similar changes in flattened surfaces, pins, or in number and position of projections, may be'used as "desired, the two rollers each with two flat surfaces, the two-pin and twoprojection construction being used only for purposes of illustration. The projections and pins obviously might be interchanged, with the pins on the locking strip and the projections on the roller. Any suitable cooperating means for the -purpose may be used. Y

The bottom track on locking member 20 is adapted to maintain liftingf member 40 in raised position so that when push button 45 is'released, 'the coin will drop into `the coin receptacle provided therefor. If the lifting member followed the push button inlits retracting movement, the coin might not fall quickly enough to escape being caught be tween the liftingmember and shelf 48. Instead of operating the rod 44 by a push button, it may be operated by a cam 50 mounted on a knurled knob 51 to increase the difliculty ofany attempt to use the same coin more than' once by maintaining'the rod 44 in contact with the coin as the locking member 2O is brought back to loweredl and locked position by the actionv4 of one of the rods 15 on the cam surface 28. `In order to prevent the use ofa coinwith a string thereon to withdraw the coin after operating the device, the projection 43 is adapted to enter the recess 49 and cut any such string.`

Manymodiications of my invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art wit-hout departing therefrom or from the scope of the claims, my invention not being limited to the particular embodiment chosen to illustrate the same but comprising a dispensing cabinet havinga plurality of rollers adapted to feed articles from a cabinet in such limited quantities as is desired.

I claim: ,1. In a dispensing cabinet, a casing, means to maintain in said casing any desired number of units to be dispensed, means to dispense said units in4 sequence comprising means to advance a unit so that it extends from the casing in position to be grasped and then is released from operative contact with said advancing means so that it may be removed from the casing, and means to maintain said unit in said advanced, removable position comprising an interfolding of said units.

2. In a dispensing cabinet, a casing, means to maintain in said casing any desired number of units to be dispensed, means to dispense said units in sequence comprising means to advance a unit so that it extends from the casing in posit'on to be grasped and then is released from operative contact with said advancing means so that it may be removed from the casing, and means to maintain said unit in said advanced, removable positionv and also in engagement with va succeedingnnit so that when an advanced unit. is withdrawn the succeeding unit will be drawn into position between said advancing means.

3. In a dispensing cabinet, a casing provided with an opening, a pair of rollers adjacent said opening having contacting and noncontacting portions, means to maintain interfolded units above said rollers with an end of the nearest unit lying between said rollers at a non-'contacting portion, and means to turn said rollers to feed said unit between their contacting' portions until said unit extends fromthe casing in position to be grasped and then to cause said noncon tacting portions of said rollers to supersede said contacting portions so ,thatI said unitmay be withdrawn from the casing.

4. In a dispensing cabinet, a casing provided with an opening, a pair of rollers adjacent said opening having contacting and non-contacting portions, means to maintain interfolded units above said rollers with an end of the nearest unit lying between said rollers at a non-contacting portion, and means to turn said rollers to feed said unit between their contacting portions until one end of said unit extends from the casing in position to be grasped with the other end of said unit still interfolded with the next succeeding unit, and then to cause said non- -contacting portions of said rollers to supersede said contacting portions so that said unit may be withdrawn from the casing and bring t-he next succeeding unit into position between said non-contacting portions of said rollers. f

y5. In a dispensing cabinet, a casing, means to maintain articles therein, and means to dispense said articles from said casing comprising a plurality of rollers one or more of which has a cut-awayyportion thereon, and means to lock said rollers.l

6. In a dispensing cabinet, a casing, means to maintain articles therein, and means to dispense saidarticles from said casing comprising a plurality of rollers one or more of which has a cut-away portion thereon, and means to lock said rollers comprising a loclring piece engaging cooperating means on one of said rollers. y

7. In a dispensing cabinet, a casing, means to maintain articles therein, and means to dispense said articles from said casing comprising a plurality of rollers one or more of which has a cut-away portion thereon, means toy `lock said rollers comprising a locking piece engaging cooperating means on one of said rollers, and means to maintain said locking piece inunloclring position. f

8. In a dispensing cabinet, a casing, means to maintain `articles therein, and means to dispense said articles from said casing comprising a plurality of rollers one or more of which has a cut-away portion thereon, means to lock said rollers comprising' a locking piece engaging cooperating means on one of said rollers, and a friction-spring to maintain said locking piece in unlocking position.

9. In a dispensing cabinet, ,a casing, means to maintain articles therein, and means to dispense said articles from said casing comprising a plurality of rollers one or more of which has a cut-away portion thereon, means to iloclr said rollers comprising a locking piece engaging cooperating means on one of said rollers, means to maintain said locking piece in unlocking position, and means toreturn said locking piece to locking position.

l0. In a dispensing, cabinet, a casing, means to maintain articles therein, and means to dispense said articles from ksaid casing comprising a plurality of rollers one or more of which has a cut-away portion thereon, means to lock said rollers comprising a locking piece engaging cooperating means on one of said rollers, means to maintain said locking piece in unlocking positiom, and means onv one of said rollers to return said locking piece to locking position.

l1. In a dispensing cabinet, a casing, means to maintain articles therein, and means to dispense said articles from said casing comprising a feeding means, a reciproeating locking strip for said feeding means; and means on said strip adapted to engage with and enclose all the cooperating means on said feeding means.

12. In a dispensing cabinet, a casing,

means to maintain articles therein, and means to dispense said articles from said casing comprising feeding means having pins thereon and means to lock said feeding means comprising a locking member having an opening therein in which all of said pins are contained and provided with a projection and with a cam surface.

13. In a dispensing cabinet, a casing, means to maintain articles therein, and means to dispense said articles from said casing comprising feeding means, a locking strip for said feeding means, and means to maintain said locking strip in inoperative position comprising a friction spring.

14. In a dispensing cabinet, a casing, means toV maintain articles therein, and means to dispense said articles from said casing comprising feeding means, a locking strip for saidfeeding means, a device to control said feeding means comprising a pivoted lifting member adapted to unlock said locking means, and means adapted to operate said lifting member.

15. In a dispensing cabinet, a casing, means to maintain articles therein, and means to dispense said articles from said casing comprising feeding means, a locking strip for said feeding means, a device to control said feeding means comprising a lifting member adapted to unlock said locking means, means adapted to operate said lifting member, and means to maintain said lifting member in raised position.

16, In a dispensing cabinet, a casing, means to maintain articles therein, and means to dispense said articles from said casing comprising feeding means, a reciprocating locking strip for said feeding means, a device to control s aid feeding means comprising a pivoted lifting member adapted to unlock said locking means, and means adapted to o-perate said lifting member.

17. In a dispensing cabinet, a casing, means to maintain articles therein, and means to dispense said articles from said casing comprising feeding means, a locking strip for said feeding means having a track thereon, and means to operate said locking strip comprising a lifting member adapted to engage said track and operate said locking strip.

18. In a dispensing cabinet, a casing, means to maintain articles therein, and means to dispense said articles from said casing comprising feeding means, a locking strip for said feeding means having parallel tracks thereon, and means to operate said locking strip comprising a lifting member adapted to engage one of said tracks to operate said lifting means and to be engaged by the other of said tracks to be maintained in lifted position until said locking strip is returned to its previous position.

19. In a `dispensing cabinet, a casing, means to maintain articles therein, and means to dispense said articles from said casing comprising feeding means having pins thereon, and a locking strip on said feeding means having an opening therein in which all said pins are contained and provided With means adapted to cooperate with said pins.

20. In a dispensing cabinet, ya casing, means to maintain articles therein, and means to dispense said articles from said casing comprising a roller having spaced pins extending from an end thereof, a locking member provided With an opening having a projection adapted to be engaged by one of said pins to prevent the rotation of said roller, means to move said locking member to remove said projection from the path of said pin so that said roller may be rotated, and a cam surface in said opening adapted to be engaged by said pin as said roller is rotated to move said locking member so that said projection Will extend into the path of said other pin to prevent further rotation of said roller until said locking member again is moved to remove said projection from the path of the pin adjacent thereto.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand.

SE'rH WHEELER, Jr. 

